Acquaintance Rape

The vast majority of rapes are what is classified as “acquaintance rapes.” They are also the most difficult to prosecute because the defense can point at the personal relationship that existed between the woman and man. It opens the door for defense counsel to accuse the girl of being bitter over a broken relationship or jealous over another girl that the boy is seeing. The girl then gets her revenge on the boy by reporting that he raped her. Stranger-rape is much more prosecutable because the offender can be easily depicted as a predator who randomly chose a woman to rape. The acquaintance rape involves a man who was known to the alleged victim and, therefore, makes it difficult for him to be portrayed as a scary or threatening by the prosecution.

An expert in the field, Dr. David Lisak who is a clinical psychologist and forensic...